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The purpose of this study is to better understand the factors influencing the attraction of Indigenous workers to the Quebec forestry sector.

Using a collaborative approach, 64 semi-structured interviews were conducted between 2016 and 2018 with workers and stakeholders from three Indigenous communities in Quebec, Canada.

The results highlight the motivations for choosing a job in the forestry sector, including family and friends, attachment to the territory, financial necessity, the search for a challenge and a sense of pride. They also show some of the obstacles to holding a job in forestry, namely work–life conflict, transportation, job insecurity, education and personal problems.

Indigenous people have a lower employment rate than non-Indigenous people, which can be explained by a number of factors that hinder their integration into the labour market. They nevertheless represent an interesting labour pool for companies working in the natural resources sector. This study sheds light on the opportunities and barriers to attract this workforce.

The study is one of the few to use theoretical frameworks focused on motivation and a qualitative approach to data collection in order to examine to examine the attraction of Indigenous workers to the forestry sector in Quebec (Canada) from a worker's perspective.

While companies in developed countries are increasingly turning to indigenous employees, integration measures have met with mixed results. Low integration can lead to breach of the psychological contract, i.e. perceived mutual obligations between employee and employer. The purpose of this paper is to identify how leadership and organizational integration measures can be implemented to promote the perceived insider status (PIS) of indigenous employees, thereby fostering fulfillment of the psychological contract.

A search for relevant literature yielded 128 texts used to identify integration measures at the level of employee–supervisor relationships (leader-member exchanges, inclusive leadership) and at the level of employee–organization relationships (perceived organizational support, pro-diversity practices).

Measures related to leadership included recruiting qualified leaders, understanding cultural particularities, integrating diverse contributions and welcoming questions and challenges. Organizational measures included reaching a critical mass of indigenous employees, promoting equity and participation, developing skills, assigning meaningful tasks, maintaining good work relationships, facilitating work-life balance, providing employment security, fostering support from communities and monitoring practices.

While PIS has been studied in western and culturally diverse contexts, it has received less attention in indigenous contexts. Yet, some indigenous cultural values are incompatible with the basic assumptions of mainstream theories. Furthermore, colonial policies and capitalist development have severely impacted traditional indigenous economic systems. Consequently, indigenous people are facing many barriers to employment in ways that often differ from the experiences of other minority groups.